Another Fucking Meta Post

I know what you're thinking: "Not another fucking meta post".

Well, sorry to disappoint. But this time, I'll at least get straight to the point.

As of right now, it's all but confirmed that I'll be living in Japan for the next few years. I have some lofty goals that I hope to accomplish while I'm there, both related and unrelated to gaming. So, what does this mean for this blog?

Rest assured, this isn't going to become a "Living In Japan" blog or anything like that. If anything, this will become a "Playing Games In Japanese Arcades" blog, since this blog is primarily for people who already know me through the gaming communities I'm part of (and secondarily, for people who don't know me, but happen to stumble upon this place anyways).

I'm going to be living in Yokosuka, which, according to Google Maps, is roughly a 90 minute train ride from Mikado Takadanobaba. If you're reading this and somehow don't know about Mikado, let's just say that it's the place to be if you play Guilty Gear. I'm going to try my best to make it to as many tournaments there as possible, since, well, it's fucking Mikado. It won't be easy with work and a personal life, but there's no way I'm going to be a stone's throw away from the best Guilty Gear players in the world and sit idly by.

But what does this mean for this blog? Right.

A large part of the reason I haven't finished the netplay article, as an example, is because I'm missing a critical element of it; to explain why it is necessary for players outside of Japan to play online, it is necessary to also explain why players within Japan don't. This means going arcade hopping to see what the typical Japanese arcade looks like on a weekday afternoon, and contrasting that with the days when an arcade like A-cho or Mikado is holding an event. To see just how easy it is to find competition for a game like Virtua Fighter or SFIV between train stops, compared to, say, Melty Blood or Guilty Gear. I could very easily finish the article right now without this valuable experience, but it wouldn't hold its weight over time, and I'd end up having to revise it as I learn more about how fighting games are played by those who play them best. So yeah, it's best to just hold off on it altogether until I know exactly what I want to say, and how I want to say it.

Of course, I'll also inevitably improve as a player. Which is kind of a scary thought, lol. That might mean revising everything entirely to reflect my newfound insights! But that is exactly what I should hope for, isn't it?

Unfortunately, none of this is happening any time soon. I'm going to be quite busy, you see, just getting on my feet and eventually settled in. So, it may very well be another eight months before you see a new post here. Waiting sucks, but trust me; it'll be well worth it.